Toronto is the best place in the world to live

Toronto, Ontario has been named the best place in the world to live by The Economist Intelligence Unit's "Index of Indexes," which ranks cities from around the world on six important standards: business environment, cost of living, liveability, safety, food safety, and democracy. The first place standing reflects the combined score across the six indexes. Here are highlights from each of the categories which contributed to Toronto's #1 overall ranking:

Toronto benefits from Canada's business-friendly environment

According to The Economist, Canada owes this strength to its attractive market opportunities, high levels of GDP per capita, and strong trade flows. In Toronto, businesses are assured the environment is conducive to running their operations successfully.

Toronto's cost of living remains relatively low

According to The Economist's "Cost of Living Index," residents of Toronto can expect to spend relatively less than citizens of most major North American cities including Montreal, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. Ontario also offers a host of other attractive locations where the cost of living may be even lower, while remaining accessible to large markets in the U.S.

Perfect scores in Toronto for health, education, and stability

Toronto, Ontario received top marks in each category of The Economist's "Liveability Index," finishing a mere 0.3 points from first place. Among its many positive attributes, Toronto was commended for its vibrant mosaic of cultures and ethnicities, superior educational opportunities, and its first-rate, publicly funded healthcare system. All of this provides employees a welcoming place to live.

Toronto named North America's safest city

The Economist's "Safe Cities Index," awarded Toronto high marks for personal safety, ahead of such cities as Melbourne and Amsterdam. A safe environment is an important component of a high standard of living.

Toronto enjoys Canada's world-class food safety system

Canada's top 10 ranking in The Economist's "Global Food Safety Index" can be attributed to perfect scores in areas such as food safety net programs, financing available to farmers, and high nutritional standards. In fact, Canada has done so well at protecting its citizens through the development and implementation of innovative food safety practices that it now exports its expertise to nations with less developed systems.

Canadians enjoy political rights and freedom

Finally, Canada is proud to be one of only 25 nations in the world that enjoy the status of what The Economist calls "a full democracy." To achieve such a rating, countries must receive high scores on 60 questions answered by The Economist's political experts. Canada's government is not only known for providing rights and freedoms to its citizens, but also for cooperating with businesses on both a federal and provincial level to help them grow and succeed to the benefit of all its citizens.

The Economist's "Index of Indexes" is one of many accolades received by The City of Toronto and Canada. Recently, Forbes magazine also named Toronto one of the world's most influential cities, while acknowledging Canada as "the best country for business."